At 5'8" I usually fluctuated between 230 and 240, not horribly bad but not exactly healthy either but slowly the weight crept on pretty bad over the course of 2012, and my best guess, by beginning of 2013 I was around 300lbs. My back hurt, my knees hurt, my feet would hurt after walking. Trying to exercise became a challenge in mobility. 15 minutes in to anything and my back would burn with so much pain I could barely move. I knew I was in trouble.
Then, on January 15th, 2013 my father passed away from Stage 4 Colon Cancer, that they believe to be caused from his weight issues and not so healthy eating. My son, Calvin, was born January 18th, 2013. It was a very emotional week filled with overwhelming loss and tremendous joy. It was also my wake up call.
On January 23rd, 2013 I went to my doctor and said, "Doc, I need a head to toe physical, blood work, stress test, everything!" I needed to know exactly where I stood and how broken I was. Needless to say when the results came back I was not in shock, as most of my fears, thoughts, and self evaluations were confirmed. I was Obese, my blood pressure was almost to the point to requiring medication, I was borderline on needing a C-PAP machine for while I slept, had markers for diabetes, my Gastric Reflux was getting bad, and I was constantly tired. I weighed in at 298lbs with a size 40 waist.
I knew I had to make changes otherwise I’d be hurting later. I didn’t take immediate action by joining a Gym or going on super strict diet. Been there, done that. It doesn’t work. Flat out failed every time. Lose 30-50lbs and gain it back the moment I stopped working out or sticking to the strictest diet in the world. Instead, I spoke with my wife and started to educate myself on nutrition, veggies, meats, learned how to read and do the math for the labels on food at the store. I spent almost a year doing that with the goal of kicking off the reboot in January of 2014. There is so much mis-information out there, that it took a long time to sort through it all; I am still learning.
**NOTE: By no means do I consider myself an expert on nutrition and health. I've done a lot of reading, a bit of study, visited with a nutritionist, and other experts, so I know what is right and what works for me. I highly recommend seeing true experts in the field before jumping in. I don't mind answering questions and referencing sources, but honestly I am not that guy to go to, go to a professional. Get the blood work, get the stress tests and physical exam. Let them help you to understand what your body truly needs.
First thing I did was get a hold of my insurance and find out what assistance or direction they could provide. I was given a few books, referred to a Food Psychologist, and a nutritionist.
The Food Psychologist was pretty cool and helped me identify when and I turned to food. Initially it was due to not being taught proper eating habits, we were raised meats and potatoes. Raised to always clean our plates. Then after a divorce, I moved back in with my parents, got a new job and was ready to start out on my own again that next year. One problem, I couldn't. My dad had changed jobs and needed the extra money from the rent I paid otherwise they'd most likely loose the house. I felt a bit trapped and started eating out of depression and boredom. Then my mom passed away, I tore my ACL in my right knee on a trip to the Philippines, and it just escalated. Learning to not turn to food out of depression, boredom, or when you have aggressions is very important for being able to over come a huge part of the Fat Demon war. They are helping me do that, along with a support of my family and close friends. Now I lean on my wife, focus on my son, and try to pick an activity that gets me out of the house. Could be as simple as taking a walk.
Next came meetings with a nutritionist, not a "GYM nutritionist" but an actual 100% educated PhD Nutritionist. (Not dissing on the nutritionists that work at gym's, just based on personal experience, they don't have all the information or resources that they should have, available to them). What a wake up call and what a huge difference they made in how I understand and look at food.
Initial Take Away (things most of us know):
- Processed Foods BAD! ("If it has to pass through a factory before it is edible for you, reconsider whether or not it is actually food." - Practical Paleo
- Portion Size: in the United States we've gone nuts on what we think is the right size to put on a plate. We changed from big plates to small plates and push it away when we start feeling remotely full.
- Sodas/Diet Sodas/Energy Drinks - GONE! Bad bad bad! Sugars, additives, etc.
- Cheap meats are high in hormones and other bi-products. We have started spending a little extra $ and switched to organic/grass fed.
- White Rice is my arch nemesis.
- Not all vegetables and fruits are good
- Desk Job - get up every hour for 5 minutes and walk around
- I can exercise all I want, but unless I eat right, it won't make a difference. As soon as I stop exercising the weight comes right back.
- Dieting is not the answer. Stop your diet, and return to certain eating habits and the weight comes right back.
- Prilosec and other PPIs (Protein Pump Inhibitors) while effective at treating Heart Burn, unfortunately mess with our ability to absorb calcium.
- THE BIG ONE! And this is key - you have to do this as a Family! It is a life style change, everyone has to support each other. Doesn't mean everyone has to suffer, kids can still have snacks but making the choice to provide them with a healthier option is better for them and helps take temptation away. Eating healthy as a family, also helps them learn to eat right so they can, hopefully avoid weight problems later in life.
- Cut the Energy Drinks, I loved Monster Absolute Zero
- Start mapping out my meals, at least one week at a time
- Shopping Lists - DO NOT DEVIATE! Stick to the list, avoid temptations. Most everything we need to eat right is found on the outer perimeter of the grocery store. Produce - outside, meats - outside, dairy - outside.
- Cut my Carb intake by cutting processed grains and breads
- Water Consumption - at least 64oz a day
- Some form of light exercise every day (I do 1 hour walks on my lunch break)
So after learning all this ... and spending a year in procrastination, 2014 arrived and it was time to bite the bullet. My heart burn was getting worse, so first thing I decided to do was get it checked out. An EGD (Scope of my Stomach) found I had a hiatal hernia at the sphincter (top of stomach opening) causing the heart burn. Found out that I had another hernia at the bottom of the stomach, and lots of scar tissue. After a few visits with the doctor and a couple phone calls, it was decided that my best option was a Gastric Sleeve which would correct all of these issues. Little scary but hey, what's a guy gonna do.
January 13th, 2014 I went into the center and had a biometric break down done along with stress tests to determine my resting caloric intake. Weighed in at 310lbs. Dude that was horrid news... I actually broke the 300lb barrier. I felt like a complete dumbass. But I was taking the steps now to get healthy. My new life style reboot for food started off with a body detox that flushed the digestive system, and then focused on flushing out all the fat from my liver (I will post separately about liver detox and why it is so important).
January 13th - 27th 2014:
I did a liquid flush and detox, a body cleanse if you will. Whey Isolate (isolate is the smallest form of protein able to be absorbed by the body and most efficiently, also the human body cannot take in and process more than about 30g of Protein an hour) protein shakes, V8 no sugar / Juicing, carried water everywhere I went, vitamins, Greek Yogurts, and Crangrape low sugar juice. The point wasn’t weight loss during those two weeks but cleansing the system and getting the digestive tract working in my favor.
January 14th - March 9th:
1400 calories a day (no sugars and
no fats). The nutritionist and doctors did a complete diagnostics on my
BMI, my cardiovascular system by submitting me to two different stress tests
and biometrics measurements (measuring, water displacement, etc.) and
determined what my resting calorie needs were then took away 500 calories to
give me a deficit, this deficit caused weight loss without exercise (I
needed the loss in weight to get rid of my back pain so I could workout).
The key was making sure that what I took in was geared towards increasing
metabolism and promoting weight loss. THIS was not a permanent diet; it was set to go roughly 6 weeks then I would transition to the new, life style diet.
This new diet consisted of (goal of 112g of protein a day, no sugar, little carb, and careful monitoring of fats):
Breakfast: 1 30g Protein Shake
Snack: 3 Egg Whites
Lunch: 4oz Lean Meat (chicken, turkey, etc), 2 cups mixed vegetables.
Snack: Boiled Eggs, nuts, string cheese, or protein bar
Dinner: 1 30g Protein Shake
*Lots of vitamins
** Sugar Free Jello was a Freebie, could have as much of that as I'd like. Other free snacks: Edamame, Celery, ...
*** Allowed one cheat meal a week
Again, that might seem pretty restrictive, but this was put in place to detox my liver and kick start the metabolism. In roughly 6 weeks I dropped 31lbs and after my surgery, the doctor not only took a picture of my liver but told my kid brother (he drove) and I that it was one of the 3 healthiest livers he’d ever seen and that was out of thousands of surgeries. So, I would say it was very effective. he also went on to say that I was one of the very few people who actually did the prep work and followed the steps needed to get to a healthier life.
May 10th, Sleeve Surgery Day:
Even though I had prepared for this day, I was nervous. It is a heck of a commitment to make. For the rest of my life, my meal portion sizes would be limited to around 5oz at a time. But for me, besides needing the medical procedures for the reflux and scar tissue removal, I wasn't going to be a slave to food anymore. I was will to make that decision.
Gastric SLEEVE is not a permanent solution! It is a tool, a resource, that enables a person to relearn to eat right, to eat healthy, and obtain control. The first two years or so almost everyone looses a great deal of weight and obtain their goal weight. I say almost everyone, as I have met a few that never took the time to prepare for surgery, didn't detox, didn't flush the liver, didn't follow the recovery diet, and continued to eat Crap/Junk foods. They stretched their stomach back out and put a portion of the weight back on. Normally, with this mind set a person will loose say 100lbs and then gain back around 40lbs + because they stretched their stomach out. I pray I avoid this. I'm not going to go through this pain (yes it hurts, waking up from surgery to a smaller stomach that is pulsing with pain and gas inside) only to get back to where I am now.
I made this decision for my health, for my family, and for my son. My parents have passed on, my wife's parents have passed on. We are all we have, and I want to do what I can to make sure I am around for them for a long time.
The experience of surgery: for those wanting an idea of what it is like, let me paint you a picture. I managed to schedule being the first surgery of the day. Earlier you get in, the greater the chance is that you get to go home that day. I arrived at 6:30am on an empty stomach, had nothing to eat since around 7pm the night before. Get checked in, you strip down to your birthday suit, put on an over sized gown so they can easily get to your tummy, give you some socks (cause that place was freezing), weight you (I weighed in at 279), and then put you to bed. Lots of blankets!!! Took me about 15 minutes to get warm. They stick an IV in you and finish prepping you. The doctor comes in and goes over the procedure with you, the anesthetist then sticks you with something, and then you pass out. Procedure takes little over an hour.
Then the part no one really prepared me for, waking up. I've had an ACL knee surgery and had my tonsils and adenoids removed as an adult, so I thought waking up from surgery would be about the same as that. Wake up with some pretty good pain meds flowing through the body with a little pain. OH HELLZ NO! I wasn't even awake, I was in that groggy, hazed over, blurry vision phase when the intense pain kicked in. Only thing going through my head was "what the hell is this pain!!?" and "MAKE IT STOP!" Your stomach gets made smaller, they cut, remove, and staple it, and I don't think that is what was hurting. What hurt was the gas build up inside the tiny and swollen stomach. I longed to burp but couldn't. After about an hour of being awake, I started walking. This helps work the gas out. It was almost 3 hours before the pain started to subside. I could've killed someone. lol. I went home around 1pm or so. Took pain meds for the first 3 days and then took it a day at a time.
That brings us to now - March 27th. Its been just over 2 weeks since I had surgery. Pain is mostly gone, the 5 incisions are healing nicely and when I went in for my 2 week check up, I weighed in at 259lbs. Side effects of the surgery, I don't feel hungry so I have to remind myself to eat/drink. I installed an app on my phone with timers to help me to remember to eat/drink. Granted I'm still on a liquid diet but even then ... every 30 minutes I am drinking either 2oz of water or 2oz of protein or 2oz of soup broths. Next week I get to add in actual soups, although I still have to be careful with starches. Basically another 6+ weeks before I can eat regular food again.
Before the Reboot:
Now:
Stay tuned, more posts to come, more information, and tracking of my ongoing reboot. Boring for some, but I'm making this into a journal and life long habit.
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